Table of Contents

Pronunciation Guide

Editors’ Preface

Entering the World of the Ju|’hoansi

Introduction

We Invite You to Dance with God: A Welcome from the Ju|’hoan Bushman Elders

Part One

Core Teachings

1 God’s Divine Egg

2 Getting Cooked by God

3 Receiving N|om

4 The Stations of N|om

5 Ropes to God

6 Transmitting N|om

7 Bushman Healers and Healing

8 N!o’an-ka|’ae: The Changing

9 First and Second Creation

10 Meeting the Ancestors

11 Kabis and the Classrooms

12 All of Creation Dances

13 N|om Songs

14 The Heart of the Spears

15 The Old Ways

16 The Ideal Bushman Life

17 Everyone Is Invited to Dance with God

Part Two

The Elders Speak: Remembrances

18 N!ae G≠kau

19 N!ae Kxao

20 Ti!’ae ≠Oma

21 |Ui N!a’an

22 ≠Oma Dahm

23 G|aq’o Kaqece

24 N!ani G|aq’o

25 Tci!xo !Ui

26 Kaqece |Kaece

27 |Ui Debe

28 Tcoq’a |Ui

29 |Xoan |Kun

30 |Kunta Boo

Appendix

Dictionary of the Ju|’hoan Religion: Words Used by the N|om-kxaosi

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Bradford Keeney, Ph.D., is a renowned traditional healer, spiritual teacher, musician, and scholar. His fieldwork with the Kalahari Bushmen (San) in Namibia and Botswana began more than two decades ago. He is the author of many books, including Bushman Shaman and Shaking Medicine. Hillary Keeney, Ph.D., is a traditional healer, spiritual teacher, dancer, scholar, and associate editor of Dance, Movement, and Spirituality. Together the Keeneys cofounded the Keeney Institute for Healing.

Reviews

“Way of the Bushman is a powerful spiritual testament. The Kalahari Bushman elders provide a credible and extraordinary guide for the healing journey to radical ecstasy. This book will alter your consciousness and help you dance with the divine.”
*Carl Hammerschlag, M.D., faculty member at the University of Arizona Medical School and author of Th*

“Rare ancient wisdom desperately needed in today’s world.”
*Robbie Holz, coauthor of Secrets of Aboriginal Healing and author of Aboriginal Secrets of Awakening*

“First and foremost, Bradford Keeney has danced with the San (Bushmen) and met them at a kinesthetic level of understanding that is unparalleled in previous anthropological research. Having met the elder healers on their own terms, Brad developed a deep relationship that brought a new voice and insight to the representation and interpretation of their healing dance. Hillary and Brad have a very special physical and academic skillset and an exceptional dedication to research. This book reveals new depths in the beliefs and practices of San (Bushman) healing that will hopefully be as valuable for the San (Bushmen) as a record and guide in a fast-changing world as it is for the wider world to appreciate these extraordinary people.”
*Chris Low, anthropologist and physician, African Studies Centre, University of Oxford*

“Other anthropologists had not succeeded in pushing through to the deep experience that is the key to Bushman spirituality. With Brad Keeney’s acceptance as a healer, hithero closed doors began to open. This work describes in previously unavailable detail how the Bushmen learn the techniques of transition and transformation,how they journey to the spirit realm, and how they climb the ropes of God. As we read the words of these Bushman elders, we can almost feel what it must be like to undertake such journeys.”
*David Lewis-Williams, Ph.D., founder of the Rock Art Research Institute, University of Witwatersrand*

“Bradford and Hillary Keeney have broken through the dusty curtain that often separates anthropologists from the people whose beliefs and practices they want to understand. Instead of writing exclusively about their own impressions, they foreground the teachings of Ju’hoan Bushman elders from northeastern Namibia. Their parallel commentary shows how a form of circular interaction and change-oriented activities have kept the ancient religion and its practitioners alive and successful despite major social upheaval in their community over the past century or more. It is a poignant reminder that the opportunity to share the experiences described with rare insight in this ‘bible’ may never arise in the same way again.”
*Janette Deacon, Ph.D., archaeologist and authority on Bushman rock art*